Anti-Telangana Congress MPs meet Sonia

NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi assured a delegation of party MPs opposed to creation of Telangana that their concerns would be taken care of when a decision on separate statehood is taken.

Gandhi's assurance to the leaders came hours before crucial meetings of UPA and Congress Working Committee to take a final decision on the issue, as Union Ministers and MPs from Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh met her.

"She (Sonia) said that your issues are very much under consideration," K Bapiraju, party MP from Seemandhra, said after the meeting.

HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju said the delegation has requested Gandhi that "injustice" should not be done to "some parts of the region."

"We have expressed our concern. We have requested the party high command to take a responsible decision. ...Our job is to convey our apprehension. We have conveyed our feeling of an injustice being done to some parts of the region," he told reporters reacting to a query.

Besides, Bapiraju and Pallam Raju, the delegation which met Gandhi included Union Ministers K S Rao, K C Deo, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakasha Reddy, Chiranjeevi, Panabaka Laxmi, J D Seelam and party MP L Rajagopal.

AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh and Congress President's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel were present in the meeting, sources said.

Seelam, however, said, "We appeal to our friends in coastal Andhra and Rayalseema....I think the Congress party always takes certain measures, may be which sometimes appear to be very harsh, but we need to find a solution."

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is opposed to bifurcation of the state, held discussions with Digvijay Singh.

NCP leader and Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar, speaking separately, said, "We are for smaller states".